Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 232,730 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 232,730 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.66% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $218,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,110,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,015,919,000 after acquiring an additional 130,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,060,616 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $608,481,000 after buying an additional 13,685 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $357,645,000 after buying an additional 880,836 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $166,367,000. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $119,286,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $225.28 on Wednesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $150.89 and a fifty-two week high of $250.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.53. The company has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a PE ratio of -51.20 and a beta of 0.41.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The business had revenue of $290.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.35 million. Analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASND has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $322.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.56.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a Denmark‐based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for rare endocrine diseases. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Hellerup, the company leverages its proprietary TransCon drug delivery platform to create long‐acting prodrugs designed to improve safety, efficacy and patient convenience. Ascendis Pharma maintains research and development operations in Europe and the United States, with clinical studies spanning North America, Europe and Asia.

The company's lead product, lonapegsomatropin (Skytrofa®), is a once‐weekly growth hormone therapy approved by the U.S.

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